More User Reviews:

Poured a hazed dark brown with some floaties and chukies into a chalice,a thinner wispy beige colored head atop.Spiced phenols in the nose along with caramel toffee and light roast,it was a little lackluster.Roasted nuts and caramel-like sweetness come thru upfront on the palate, again lightly spiced phenols as well as a hint of raisin.This beer could beer could be really good but it seems to lack a big punch,there is something missing here. (445 characters)

Nice presentation on a 750 ml bottle. I appreciate the history lesson, the picture, the cork, and the cap. Cork makes a big champagne pop upon opening. Pours a dark brown chestnut, near mahogany, into a goblet. Head is light brown, big, and beautiful. Retention is very good. Bubbles are large, reinvigorating the head each time the glass is lifted. Aroma is quite yeasty with a bit of lemon and cream. Touches of vanilla and banana as it warms. Taste is subtle, much less in your face than most Unibroue. Some sweet malts, peaches, pepper, a nutty yeastiness, and a spicy lemon finish. Mouthfeel benefits from the large carbonation. While its smooth to the point of being almost flat up front, it comes back with an ass kicking bite in the finish. Body is on the light side of medium and very refreshing. Very drinkable, and much more approachable for the newbie than any of their other brews but not really for me. I want a little more. Nice beer but a tad bland. Not worth the money in my book. (1,001 characters)

A 750ml bottle with best by date of 2/22/08. A dark brown, almost black with a thick coffee-colored head. Aroma of coffee and prunes. Taste was coffee, sweet fruit, with a hint of chocolate and licorice. A little on the thin side. Still, an enjoyable beer from Unibroue. (270 characters)

750ml brown bottle, corked and caged. Its a gorgeous bottle, with a label depicting a Carignan-Sallières soldier pointing to a distant target, backed by his brethren.

Massive pop! as the cork is released. Its followed by a highly carbonated pour. The liquid is black, rich and opaque; deep brown hues show around the edges of the glass. The foaming head peaks with a milky coffee - colored froth, then settles to a thin, wispy lace.

The aroma is soft, with hints of pepper, cracked wheat and malt powder, as well as notes of fruit juice and caramel. It grows both yeastier and more metallic as the beer warms.

As its carbonation comes into contact with the palate, the beer exhibits a medium body and smooth, creamy mouthfeel. A well-placed candy sweetness dominates, as smooth caramel plays off bold fruitiness, with suggestions of fresh orange and peach. Complex spices - pepper, anise - highlight the alcohol and cause a prickliness on the palate. Eventually, an interesting smokiness emerges to balance the rest. Near the finish, theres a light, wheaty tang and an increasing dryness, which meshes with hints of peach skin. It ends dry, with a coarser, faintly nutty yeastiness. Bitterness and hop flavors are minimal, marked only by a thin citric edge and a soft leafy feel.

Chambly Noire is another delicious offering from Unibroue, and another triumph for dark beers! Even skeptics will enjoy this complex, well-balanced, immensely flavorful and unique brew.

I recommend pairing Chambly Noire with grilled salmon, a plate of smoked cheeses and cured meats, or even some smoked pecans. Raw oysters might hold up to this one, too - preferably plump and briny Wellfleets. (1,701 characters)

Corked and caged bottle pours a dark chestnut body with a small beige head. Patchy lace is left on the goblet. Aroma is spicy and yeasty, raisins and earthy wild mushrooms. Medium body is lightened by an aggressive carbonation. Taste is spicy and earthy. Dark fruit presence is prunes. Wild mushrooms evidence the yeasty character. On the malty side, yet dry on the finish. Very enagaing and quite drinkable, but not overly exciting. (433 characters)

Large bottle, caged and corked, "best before" dating provided, typical Unibroue packaging. Pours near black with some ruby notes shining through, dark latte froth, good retention and leaving some spotty and short lived lacing. Nose is mildly of some smoky dark rum. More smoke, caramel, and other dark malts noted on the palate. This is a thinner and more accessible brew then expected from Unibroue. More of an everyday sessioner, then the typical, strong, perhaps over the top selections from this north of the border brewer. Understated and tasty, worth a try. Probably would be nice with some spicy BBQ. (607 characters)

Poured into a chalice. An opaque, dark brew, with a little bit of brown around the eges. The pour produces an inch of off-white head which retains itself well. Lacing coats the glass with every sip.

Nose is a bit underwhelming, considering my previous bottle was Don de Dieu. A bit of yeast, caramel and fruit. Surprisingly hard to detect.

Very smooth, slightly yeasty, with notes of caramel and plum. Slightly tart to the finish, a bit of fig there as well. A milder version of the BDA style. Very easy to drink, certainly enjoyable, but a bit bland for Unibroue. However, despite being "bland for Unibroue" this is still pretty excellent.

A good session brew (about as good as Unibroue gets in this regard), but certainly pales in comparison to the brewery's successful brews. Enjoyable, but not very exciting. A good introduction beer to the style, I have to say. (870 characters)

Didn't really do much for me. Brown pour with a good-sized off-whtie head. Vinuous nose with licorice, cherries, and spice. Flat mouthfeel. Fruity, sweet, and spicy. Lots of grapes. Turned into concord grape juice with beer added. It just felt as if somehting was missing. (272 characters)

12oz bottle with a gold foil wrapped twist-off cap served into a tulip glass. Deep brown with an off-white towards tan head about an 1" tall. Tiny tightly knitted strings of bubbles rushing up around the sides of the glass leaving some webby lacing down the glass.

Clean taste to start with tangy subtle dark fruitiness. Earthy with a dry vinious,slighly grassy and some mineral like qualities. The body with somewhat thin,not what i expected. Not a bad beer just left me wanting more. Not up to par with other Unibroue beer i've tried (649 characters)

Noire de Chambly opens to a nose that anyone familiar with Unibroue will be familiar with, featuring their funky, spicy yeast strain that lends a mulled apple cider note with threads of apple cider vinegar. In addition, there are apple, orange, berry, and cherry fruit esters, as well as what seems to be a faint haze of cigarette smoke, like stepping into a nightclub in the middle of the day. These mix with an undercurrent of brown bread, toast crust, biscuit, and floury baguette. A peppery spiciness overlays everything in typical Unibroue fashion. As a whole, the beer is nice, but seems to be lacking some of the depth and complexity associated with Unibroue beers. The light 6.2% ABV is likely the cause of much of this, robbing the beer of sugars, so that the proprietary yeast supply quite a large portion of the aroma.

On the tongue, the beer is immediately peppery and spicy, the typical Unibroue yeast notes of spiced cider and vinegar joined by scads of white and black pepper, burning the tongue. Apple, cherry, berry, and orange fruit esters bring fruity relief, as do thin bits of brown sugar. Brown bread, floury baguette, and biscuit add earthiness. The spice notes, however, take center stage, bringing not only pepper, but harsh whole-stick cinnamon and bits of cardamom and nutmeg—so if this is spiced cider, it’s overly-spiced cider. The aftertaste is heavily spiced, following the main mouthful, but even more so as the sugars die off, and lingers on the tongue for a long time. Mouthfeel is medium-light to medium, and carbonation is medium-high, approaching champagne, and causing the better portion of the mouthful to turn into foam.

As a whole, this is certainly decent beer, but when considered against the rest of Unibroue’s lineup, ends up being somewhat of a disappointment. The spicy, yeasty notes are simply overpowering here, causing the rest of the beer to be rather lost, and the heavy carbonation ends up marring the mouthfeel with foaminess. Decent, but could have used a bit more sugar, and a lot less CO2. (2,054 characters)

poured into a goblet out of 750ml belgian style bottle. poured a nice initial head that left pretty quickly. the color is almost completely black with an off white head. nice lacing. the smell is mostly the belgian yeast esters, banana, clove, maybe a little dried fruit. somewhat of a flowery smell off the pour. the taste is somewhat malty with some very nice belgian yeast going on, perhaps some dried fruit, dates, prunes. finishes a little dry with a very nice fruity after taste. the only thing that could have been a little better with this one was that it was slightly watery and maybe even a little over carbonated, but i defiantely enjoyed it as well as all the other unibroue beers ive tried. definately some very quality belgian style beer and this one is definately worth checking out exspecially if you want a nice belgian with a little less alchol. (863 characters)

750mL bottle. Pours very dark brown with an off-white head. Aroma of yeast, some dark fruits, and malt. Flavour is slightly sweet with malt and Unibroue yeast. This seemed quite thin and watered down. It's easy to drink but I was kind of disapointed by this. Not one of Unibroue's best. (286 characters)